Apple and samsung back in court today

After an all-too-brief breather, Apple and Samsung are girding their loins for another courtroom battle, with Samsung seeking to overturn a $1 billion patent verdict imposed in August.

Meanwhile, while the award was one of the highest ever given in a patent case, it still isn't high enough for Apple.

The company's now looking to get it increased by another half-billion dollars and get a couple of dozen older Samsung products banned in the US.

Samsung is arguing that many of Apple's patents should never have been awarded in the first place, and that the damages award was in any case miscalculated.

It's also pursuing its claim that the foreman of the jury, Velvin Horgan, was biased, as he failed to disclose a lawsuit brought against him by his former employer, Seagate, which has a strategic partnership with Samsung.

Apple, however, says it's a bit late not to be raising such concerns, and that Samsung should have known about the lawsuit before.

The case will be heard by the long-suffering San Jose district judge Lucy Koh today. But whatever she decides is unlikely to be enough. Samsung is believed likely to take the case to the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals - and possibly even all the way to the Supreme Court.

Meanwhile, the two companies are engaged in another battle over newer products, including the Galaxy SIII phone and iPhone 5. A hearing has been set for 2014.